Category: General Fitness

While riding with the Lone Peak High School Mountain Bike Team this morning (July 7) we ran into a hydration and nutrition problem. It was super hot and just a little humid for early July in Utah. We had Ride Leaders (adult coaching volunteers) and Junior Athletes (high school competitors) who had bonking issues, minor heat issues, and just plain wearing out from hard riding in the heat. We did our best to keep them drinking, drinking, drinking, but sometimes it’s not quite enough.

A little bit of electrolyte and sugar helps with the bonking and assists in providing the energy you need to finish that ride in good style. Please avoid heavy doses of caffeine, especially if they’re concentrated. Those little one ounce containers with enough caffeine in them to keep you awake for the whole day? Caffeine is dehydrating. You’d have to drink over a full liter of plain water, maybe two, to make up for the water lost in processing that much caffeine in one shot. Just don’t do it.

Also, NICA has a stance on chemical assisted training and racing. Here are two selections from the NICA Manual:

For those parents and student athletes who are needing a starting place for how to select an appropriate supplement to their regular hydration, we’ve compiled this quick set of links for some of our own favorites, some we’ve encountered at various charity runs, and some that our triathlete friends recommend.

It’s by no means a complete list, but is a good starting point. It’s from Amazon because it’s super easy to make lists like this, but you can get these at local running and cycling shops, and even Walmart and Smith’s if you dig around.